Ieme Pille

Class-centred teaching
Pre-reading
1) What do you think class-centred teaching involves?
(personal)
2) Look at the title, subtitles and information about the author at the end. What
do you think the aim of the author is?
The fact that the author is an educator who hold workshops and conferences and
that the subtitles are principles on how to apply class-centred teaching, implies
that the author probably wants to convince us of using class-centred teaching.
3) Which questions do you expect to be answered in this article?
What is class-centred teaching?
Why should we use it?
How can we teach in a class-centred way?

Global reading
1) Which information is given in the paragraph research principles?
The author writes about some interesting sources she used and which
information you can find in it.
From these sources she has extracted a selection of concepts of group dynamics.
2) Write down the essence of every group development principle in the form of a
one-sentence guideline.
Creating the
climate

Create a classroom climate in which it is clear that making

errors is all right.

Making
connections

Recognise the importance of your students making

interpersonal connections and you connecting with the class.

Establishing
expectations

Make sure your students know which behavioural expectations

you have.

Convincing
the
customers
Defining
directions

Gain the confidence of your students by having an aura of

professionalism.

Harnessing
the
headstrong
Recognising
roles

Get your potential troublemakers on your side by giving them

additional positive feedback and identifying specific roles for
them.
Include and pay attention to all the individuals in your
classroom, as they are all vital in the group development and
maintenance.

Ensure that your students know which learning goals they will
be pursuing during every particular lesson.

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Sustaining
solidarity
Maintaining
momentum

Make a conscious effort to develop and maintain the collective

memories of your classes in order to sustain a feeling of
solidarity.
Inject a feeling of freshness and vitality into your lessons in
order to renew the sense of forward momentum.

Formalising
farewells

Take care of a symbolic closure at the end of a course so that

ties can be severed more easily.

Detailed reading
1) What does class-centred teaching mean according to the article?
Teaching in a way that anticipates on the fact that classes function as a group.
2) Why does effective teaching mean you have to accept that classes function as
groups?
Because the collective or individual behaviour of the students in the group both
influences and is influenced by the collective or individual behaviour of other in
the room.
3) Explain what the tipping point is in your own words by using the
accompanying picture in the text.
The image is of a seesaw with people on it which has tipped to the left as more
people are standing there. The moment when enough people started to stand on
the left side of the seesaw for it to tip over and no longer be in balance, is the
tipping point. The seesaw now functions as a slide downwards for the people on
the right-side of the seesaw. In the end all the people will be on the left side. Its
the same with groups: after a critical number of students starts to behave in
ways that encourage cohesion, the other students will probably follow their lead.
4) Which differences can be noticed between classes taught by class-centred
teachers and other classes?
Classes guided by a class-centred teacher are less likely to be fragmented and to
turn on their teacher, while the students are more likely to feel at ease with their
class and to grow more confidently.
5) Where did the author get the group development principles from?
She got her group development principles from observations. They have
examined a wide range of social processes occurring during intensive English
language classes containing adult learners from a range of cultural and linguistic
backgrounds.
6) Which two kinds of connections are mentioned in the paragraph making
connections?
-Interpersonal connections between the students
-The connection between the teachers and the classes he or she teaches

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7) Which of the group dynamic concepts does the paragraph defining directions
refer to?
Groups do not remain cohesive unless progress is made towards the
achievement of clearly-articulated goals.
8) How do they call a class in which the students support each other and in which
students behave generous minded towards to their peers?
mutually-supportive classroom communities
9) Why will students feel put off if the teacher lacks an aura of professionalism?
The students want to be taught useful things in an engaging and effective way.
An aura of professionalism will reassure students that this particular need will be
met, while a lack of an aura of professionalism might do the opposite.
10) Explain the irony mentioned in the paragraph harnessing the headstrong.
They tell teachers should pay additional positive attention to troublesome
individuals, while Its a natural instinct to repress their behaviour by admonishing
or punishing them harshly.

Vocabulary
1) Match the following words with their explanation. Write down your answers in
the grid below.
1.
2.

To ponder
Cohesion

3.
4.

Discern
Hallmarks

5.
6.
7.

Invaluable
Myriad
Normative

8.

Prerogative

9.

Inhibited

10
.
11
.
12
.
13
.
14

To solidify
To admonish
To condone
To feel put
out
The

To consider carefully
The situation when the members of a group or
society are united
To distinguish; to notice
A typical characteristic or feature of a person or
thing
Of value too great to be estimated
A very large number of something
Relating to rules, or making people obey rules,
especially rules of behaviour
A special right or privilege belonging to a person
because of his rank, position etc.
Unable to relax and express ones feelings in an
open and natural way
To become fixed
To tell someone that they have done something
wrong
To accept or allow behaviour that is wrong
To feel annoyed or irritated
The reasons or intentions that cause a particular set

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15
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16
.
17
.
18
.
19
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20
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rationale
To get onside
To harness
To construe
Idiosyncrasi
es
Lethargy
Momentum

of beliefs or actions
To get someone into a position of agreement
To control something, usually in order to use its
power
To interpret
A strange or unusual habit, way of behaving, or
feature that someone or something has
Having little energy; feeling unwilling and unable to
do anything
The force that keeps an object moving or keeps an
event developing after it has started

Sources:
(n.d.). Retrieved February 14, 2015, from Cambridge Dictionaries Online:
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/